[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 106 (Friday, June 1, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32662-32664]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-13394]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2012-N117; FXES11120800000F2-123-FF08ECAR00]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Incidental Take
Permit Application; Proposed Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan and
Associated Documents; Riverside County, CA
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have
received an application from Smoke Tree, Inc. (applicant), for a 75-
year incidental take permit (permit); the application
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includes the applicant's proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP) as
required by the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). If
approved, the permit would authorize incidental take of the endangered
Casey's June beetle (Dinacoma caseyi) in the course of routine
activities associated with the occupation, use, and maintenance of
Smoke Tree Ranch, a residential and guest ranch community established
in its present configuration in 1925. We invite public comment on the
permit application and proposed HCP, and on our preliminary
determination that the HCP qualifies as ``low-effect'' for a
categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act. To
make this determination, we used our environmental action statement and
low-effect screening form, which are also available for review.
DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written comments by
July 2, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may request a copy of the
incidental take permit application, proposed HCP, and associated
documents by email, telephone, fax, or U.S. mail (see below). These
documents are also available for public inspection by appointment
during normal business hours at the office below. Please send your
requests or comments by any one of the following methods, and specify
``Smoke Tree Ranch HCP'' in your request or comment.
Submitting Comments: You may submit comments or requests for more
information by any of the following methods:
Email: ken_corey@fws.gov. Include ``Smoke Tree Ranch HCP'' in the
subject line of your message.
Telephone: Kennon A. Corey, Palm Springs Fish and Wildlife Office,
760-322-2070.
Fax: Kennon A. Corey, Palm Springs Fish and Wildlife Office, 760-
322-4648, Attn.: Smoke Tree Ranch HCP.
U.S. Mail: Kennon A. Corey, Palm Springs Fish and Wildlife Office,
Attn.: Smoke Tree Ranch HCP, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 777 East
Tahquitz Canyon Way, Suite 208, Palm Springs, CA 92262.
In-Person Viewing or Pickup of Documents, or Delivery of Comments:
Call 760-322-2070 to make an appointment during regular business hours
at the above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kennon A. Corey, Assistant Field
Supervisor, Palm Springs Fish and Wildlife Office; telephone 760-332-
2070. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), please
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
The applicant, Smoke Tree, Inc., requests an incidental take permit
under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act. If we approve the permit, the
applicant anticipates taking Casey's June beetle as a result of minor
disturbances to habitat the species uses for breeding, feeding, and
sheltering. Take of Casey's June beetle would be incidental to the
applicant's continuation of routine activities associated with
occupation, use, and maintenance of existing residential and guest
facilities at Smoke Tree Ranch, in the City of Palm Springs, Riverside
County, California. We published a final rule to list Casey's June
beetle as endangered and designate critical habitat for it on September
22, 2011 (76 FR 58954). The rule became effective October 24, 2011.
Background
Section 9 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and our implementing
Federal regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 50 CFR
part 17 prohibit the ``take'' of wildlife species listed as endangered
or threatened. Take of listed wildlife is defined under the Act as ``to
harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or
collect listed species, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct''
(16 U.S.C. 1538). ``Harm'' includes significant habitat modification or
degradation that actually kills or injures listed wildlife by
significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns such as breeding,
feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). Under limited circumstances, we
may issue permits to authorize incidental take of listed wildlife
species, which the Act defines as take that is incidental to, and not
the purpose of, the carrying out of otherwise lawful activities.
Regulations governing incidental take permits for threatened and
endangered species are at 50 CFR 17.32 and 17.22, respectively. In
addition to meeting other criteria, activities covered by an incidental
take permit must not jeopardize the continued existence in the wild of
federally listed wildlife or plants.
Applicant's Proposal
The applicant requests a 75-year permit under section 10(a)(1)(B)
of the Act. If we approve the permit, the applicant anticipates taking
Casey's June beetles (Dinacoma caseyi) as a result of minor
disturbances to approximately 260 acres (ac) (105 hectares (ha)) of
habitat the species uses for breeding, feeding, and sheltering. The
take would be incidental to the applicant's continuation of routine
activities associated with the occupation, use, and maintenance of
existing residential and guest facilities at Smoke Tree Ranch in the
City of Palm Springs, Riverside County, California. No new development
resulting in the destruction of open space habitat would occur, nor
would there be any new activities other than those that have occurred
over the 87 years that Smoke Tree Ranch has been in existence.
Smoke Tree Ranch was originally developed in 1925 as a desert
retreat for visitors and permanent residents. The entire 400-ac (162-
ha) Smoke Tree, Inc., property encompasses a residential community of
93 single-family homes, a 20-ac (8-ha) guest ranch of cottages with
recreation amenities, and peripheral commercial development of shopping
centers and horse stables. The property also includes undeveloped open
space that extends into Palm Canyon Wash and to the base of the Santa
Rosa Mountains. The location of Smoke Tree Ranch is within habitat
occupied by Casey's June beetle, a species adapted to desert vegetation
and soil types found in Palm Canyon Wash and adjacent areas, including
Smoke Tree Ranch, in the City of Palm Springs.
To minimize take of Casey's June beetle on Smoke Tree Ranch, the
applicant proposes to mitigate for minor disturbance to approximately
260 ac (105 ha) of Casey's June beetle habitat by continuing to
preserve approximately 103 ac (42 ha) of natural, open space habitat
occupied by Casey's June beetle and preserved under existing
conservation easements. In addition, the applicant proposes to conserve
under new deed restrictions approximately 11.5 ac (4.6 ha) of natural,
open space habitat occupied by Casey's June beetle; this habitat is the
last remaining undeveloped open space available on Smoke Tree Ranch.
The applicant's proposed HCP also contains the following proposed
measures to minimize the effects of routine activities to Casey's June
beetle on approximately 260 ac (105 ha) of areas already developed for
residential and guest ranch use on Smoke Tree Ranch, which the
applicant enforces through covenants, conditions, and restrictions and
through written directives to residents each year:
Prohibition of electronic ``bug zappers.''
Limitations on outdoor and swimming pool lighting.
Use of pool covers on new swimming pools during the
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reproductive flight season of Casey's June beetle (March through June).
Prohibition of pesticide, herbicide, and fertilizer use in
the conservation areas.
Prohibition of ground irrigation in open desert areas,
including the conservation areas.
Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan Alternatives
In the proposed HCP, the applicant considers alternatives to the
taking of Casey's June beetle under the proposed action. Our proposed
action is to issue an incidental take permit to the applicant, who
would implement the HCP. If we approve the permit, take of Casey's June
beetle would be authorized for the applicant's continuation of routine
activities associated with the occupation, use, and maintenance of an
existing residential and guest ranch community. The applicant's
proposed HCP does not identify an alternative that would not result in
incidental take of Casey's June beetle, because it is infeasible for
Smoke Tree Ranch to cease the routine operations that have been
implemented over the 87 years that Smoke Tree Ranch has been in
operation without constricting the day-to-day life of residents and
guests, and risking impacts to property values, neighborhood
desirability, guest ranch amenities, and the overall economic viability
of the community.
Our Preliminary Determination
We invite comments on our preliminary determination that our
proposed action, based on the applicant's proposed activities,
including the proposed minimization and mitigation measures, would have
a minor or negligible effect on Casey's June beetle, and that the HCP
qualifies as ``low effect'' as defined by our Habitat Conservation
Planning Handbook (November 1996).
We base our determination that a HCP qualifies as a low-effect plan
on the following three criteria:
(1) Implementation of the HCP would result in minor or negligible
effects on federally listed, proposed, and candidate species and their
habitats;
(2) Implementation of the HCP would result in minor or negligible
effects on other environmental values or resources; and
(3) Impacts of the HCP, considered together with the impacts of
other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable similarly situated
projects, would not result, over time, in cumulative effects to
environmental values or resources that would be considered significant.
As more fully explained in our environmental action statement and
associated low-effect screening form, the applicant's proposed HCP
qualifies as a low-effect HCP for the following reasons:
The applicant would continue to preserve in perpetuity
approximately 103 ac (42 ha) of natural open space occupied by Casey's
June beetle.
The applicant would preserve an additional 11.5 ac (4.6
ha) of natural open space occupied by Casey's June beetle.
No new destruction of natural open space habitat would
occur.
No adverse modification of designated critical habitat for
Casey's June beetle would occur.
No impacts would occur to any other threatened,
endangered, proposed, or candidate species, nor would there be any
adverse modification of designated or proposed critical habitat for any
other listed or proposed species.
Human occupation, use, and maintenance of residences, the
guest ranch, and open space areas would result in the same low-
intensity dispersed, minor disturbance to habitat as a result of the
same routine operations that have occurred on Smoke Tree Ranch over the
past 87 years.
Injury and mortality of individual beetles resulting from
human activities associated with routine operations would be minor and,
with implementation of minimization measures and preservation of
conservation easement areas, would be less over the 75-year permit term
than what has occurred during the past 87 years.
Historical residential and guest ranch use has been
demonstratively compatible with survival of the beetle, as some of the
highest observed numbers and most consistent collections of the beetle
have been made in Smoke Tree Ranch, where the largest and most
protected area of remaining occupied habitat is currently found (76 FR
58954; September 22, 2011).
The current abundance of Casey's June beetle on Smoke Tree
Ranch is primarily the result of minimal past disturbance within the
regulated, gated residential community; the existence of the relatively
large, contiguous, minimally disturbed area dominated by native desert
vegetation that the beetle occupies; and the supplemental soil moisture
on site from landscaping irrigation in the residential and guest ranch
areas (76 FR 58954; September 22, 2011). These existing conditions will
continue to be perpetuated, and we expect the beetle will continue to
be found in abundance on Smoke Tree Ranch.
Therefore, our proposed issuance of the requested incidental take
permit qualifies as a categorical exclusion under the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as provided by the Department of the
Interior Manual (516 DM 2 Appendix 1, 516 DM 6 Appendix 1, and 516 DM
8.5(C)(2)). Based on our review of public comments that we receive in
response to this notice, we may revise this preliminary determination.
Next Steps
We will evaluate the proposed HCP and comments we receive to
determine whether the permit application meets the requirements and
issuance criteria under section 10(a) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.). We will also evaluate whether issuance of a section 10(a)(1)(B)
incidental take permit would comply with section 7 of the Act by
conducting an intra-Service consultation. We will use the results of
this consultation, in combination with the above findings, in our final
analysis to determine whether or not to issue a permit. If the
requirements and issuance criteria under section 10(a) are met, we will
issue the permit to the applicant for incidental take of Casey's June
beetle.
Public Comments
If you wish to comment on the permit application, proposed HCP, and
associated documents, you may submit comments by any of the methods
noted in the ADDRESSES section.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you may
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Authority
We provide this notice under section 10 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531
et seq.) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
Jim A. Bartel,
Field Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 2012-13394 Filed 5-31-12; 8:45 am]
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